Far Right Celebrates Ryan’s Retirement: He Was A ‘Globalist,’ Too

Paul Ryan Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman April 12, 2018

House Speaker Paul Ryan has announced he will not be seeking reelection in November — and the far right couldn’t be happier, the Washington Post reported.

Ryan has long been a target of far-right media outlets and “alt-right” social media figures. He has been ridiculed as a “globalist,” a moniker often given to Jews that is meant to identify someone who puts the rest of the world before the U.S. On Wednesday, Breitbart published two articles in that vein: “Paul Ryan’s Globalist Legacy: Ignoring America’s Working Class at the Behest of Billionaire Koch Brothers” and “9 Times Paul Ryan Put American Workers Last, Foreigners First.”

Trump supporters on Twitter echoed Breitbart’s derision.

So true. @SpeakerRyan leaving is the sure fire sign that the #Globalists ate losing hold over US. Keep it that way. Vote #RedWaveRising2018 #MAGA #KAG2020 https://t.co/BJTkA7o4yg

— Success (@Success87473781) April 11, 2018

Paul Ryan is a bought-out globalist that went from opposing Trump to a supposed ally that’s done nothing but stall the America First agenda. Trump has really started to drain the swamp of those that work against the American people…??#PaulRyan #MAGA

— Lukasz P. Dusza (@DuszaLukasz) April 11, 2018

Trump supporters also saw Ryan’s exit as a sign that Trumpism is now the dominant Republican ideology.

“One, the free trade, more interventionist, establishment. That’s Paul Ryan,” said Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “And the other, a more America first populism. That’s Trump. The speaker’s departure is a clear sign in my mind that Trump’s vision, not Ryan’s, is the future of the party.”

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

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